Mining Atewa Forest Can Never Be Responsible Nor Sustainable – Coalition To Akufo-Addo
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The coalition for ‘Save Atewa Forest Reserve’ has in a press conference on 4th June 2019 at International Press center, Accra dared the President of Ghana, H.E. Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo to proof to them if really there exists any technology that would not endanger the ecosystem, should the Atewa bauxite mining goes through because bauxite mining in a watershed anywhere in the world has never been responsible and sustainable likewise this, and no amount of executive caveat to that can wish it away.
According to the group which comprises of Green Livelihood Alliance, Concerned Citizens of Atewa Landscape, KASA Initiative Ghana, Coalition of NGOs against Mining in Atewa Forest, CSO platform for SDG 15, categorically stated that though there is modern technology that can remove the red mud without digging deep, the president is wrong to assume that there is such a technology that would not endanger wildlife.
“We know there is no “modern technology” that can remove the red mud without first removing the forest that grows on top. In actual fact, if the President has been told that there is a technology that can remove the red mud without destroying the forest cover which supports wildlife; without negative impact on downstream water bodies and underground aquifers, and without the health-related issues associated with the red dust that comes with bauxite mining, then that information is not factual and unproven,” Daryl Bosu (Green Livelihood Alliance) said.
According to the coalition, they are ever ready to learn from such experience if really such technological process is factual, sustainable and responsible.
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Moreover, the coalition revealed that the bauxite deposits in Atewa are found in a seam on average 6 metres thick, just 1.5 to 3 metres below the surface and Strip mining is the only way to mine Ghana’s bauxite due to its closeness to the surface.
Daryl Bosu explained that “strip mining removes all vegetation, habitats and top soil, while the rock beneath is then broken up with explosives and a clear example of the destruction that is caused to forests by bauxite mining is Ghana’s existing bauxite mine at Awaso in the Western Region, now a desert of red mud that replaced once thick forest.”
Contrary, the President of Ghana, Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo has in his earlier statement opined that there is no way such technology can endanger the ecosystem.
By: Radio1News|Ghana
